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Hayden — Budget talks fired up the Hayden Town Board of Trustees and town workers at the board meeting Thursday evening.

Department heads stood up to protest planned furloughs, which would slice four hours off each employee's week. Town trustees reacted with concern and questions, plus a reminder that failing to balance the budget is not an option. They also discussed concerns about the proposed Hayden town charter.

Trustees opted to address the budget questions at a work session with department heads and Town Manager Russ Martin at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

"It's tough," Trustee Tom Rogalski said. "There's only so much pie to go around, and everybody gets a smaller slice."

Department leaders spoke fervently about the possibilities for reduced services. Streets Superintendent Sam Barnes said cutting employee hours could have severe consequences.

"Which roads get plowed and which ones don't on 36 hours, I don't know the answer to that," Barnes told the board. "That's something you guys will have to answer."

Plowing could become even more of a concern if the Hayden School District cuts bus routes in town, which has been suggested. That change combined with increased time needed to plow because of staffing shortages could have dangerous consequences, Barnes suggested.

"That's going to put a lot of kids out on the street early in the morning walking to school," he said. "Do we want to be plowing snow then? I don't want to."

The proposed cuts also would reduce Parks and Recreation Director Kathy Hockett's week to 20 hours and Parks Superintendent Dave Bantam's week to 10 hours in about a month. Hockett and Bantam said that move could affect parks services and the town's new baseball fields and building at Dry Creek Park.

"I know the economy is bad everywhere, as is quite apparent, but to maintain what you guys have worked so hard to establish is going to be really difficult," Bantam said.

Police Chief Ray Birch and Systems Manager Frank Fox noted that even if their hours were cut on paper, they'd still work until the work was done. Birch's statement seemed partly intended to assure the public that their police will be there when needed.

"We'll do the best we can with all we have," Birch said. "We'll be there when people call, when people have an emergency, if we have to roll out from our house or our bed to respond."

Trustees Tim Redmond and Jim Haskins said they didn't think they had enough time to absorb the cuts and their ramifications. Martin informed them about the furlough plan earlier this spring. He was ill and absent from Thursday's meeting.

Several town employees also said they were disappointed with the way cuts were handled. Martin announced the furloughs in May, and the next Town Board meeting was canceled. Furloughs were scheduled to start Sunday.

Fox, Birch and Town Clerk Susan Irvine said they've cut their departments to bare bones. Barnes said he thought he could find more cuts at Public Works.

Throughout the conversation, Redmond requested more conversation.

"I kind of feel that I don't know that we've looked at all of our options, and I don't think we've investigated the situation as much as we should have as a board," he said.

The board called Martin at home to ask about the process. Martin said furloughs were a last resort that affected him, too; he also had agreed to take a 10 percent pay cut.

Martin said he was open to meeting with staff members and the board.

"I have no reason to be opposed to it," he said. "If someone has a better answer, I would just have assumed they would have come up with it before today."

Tuesday's meeting will be a work session, with no allocated time for public comment and no decisions. The board wouldn't be able to take action until the July 2 meeting.

The discussion also raised concerns later in the meeting, when board members dealt with the proposed Hayden town charter. Redmond and Haskins said they'd spoken with town employees who were hesitant to talk about issues.

"I hate to say it, but I think there's a climate of intimidation out there," Redmond said.

Haskins said he sometimes heard that he was making decisions on the board without all the relevant information from staff members.

The board discussed ways to change the climate. As it stands, the town manager has the power to hire and fire town staff. Eventually, the board decided to try to open the lines of communication by discussion. That could come up at Tuesday's work session.

The board approved the charter, and Hayden voters will decide whether to approve or reject it at a July 21 election.

Also at Thursday's meeting, the board transferred the liquor license from Quintero's Mexican Restaurant to Wolf Mountain Pizza, which took over the location. Members also gave Wolf Mountain a temporary liquor permit. They approved a change of manager at the HiWay Bar, which is under new management by Lori Fournier and Brian Brittingham.